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She studied hi to ers turned the locket over, exa the thread of a broken gold chain He wrapped one end of the chain around his finger, twirling it in loops absently Then he brought it up to his ear, as if straining to hear sole it next, but he did not He unwound the chain and set the char it azed at her

The sudden look startled her She could almost see his eyes, but the shadow of his cowl prevented it He did not look chagrined at being found out by her He seeain

"What is that?" Phae asked, al

"A trinket," he replied softly, holding it between two fingers and exaain "They sell these in Kenatos"

Phae was a"

He nodded "These have been around for centuries Only a Paracelsus kno they are ues

"What is the melody? Do you know it?"

The Kishion shook his head "I don’t But I should It is…fa"You’ve heard it before then?" she asked, keeping her voice low and timid She did not want to push him back into silence

"I can’t remember I believe I have"

She licked her lips and carefully pushed herself up "It sounds like autumn Like the first rain after the death of a friend It is powerful ree I have heard it before"

Phae slowly stroked her ar it into her heart Itthe Wineain ItIt ? The sound of it would haunt her forever, yet its suffering was soet it?" she asked after another lengthy pause She was very near to tears and felt her throat tighten Its sadness permeated her bones and marrow

The locket clicked shut Her heart lurched when the ain She was desperate to hear it Wincing with emotion, she stared at him and saw the expression on his mouth--full of bitterness and almost a sneer at her question

"From a man that I killed," he said flatly "Norowl at the ht was eclipsed by an even darker shadow--a bear with a shiny black pelt It yaith a bellowing cough, dropped to all fours, and charged the Kishion, all litter shook froe phosphorescent light with it

Phae screa the er, hunchbacked, and both of its eyes glowed silver With a roar and snarl it charged, its claws scraping the floor as it hurtled at thee with his own body The beast s hi force into the stone wall She watched the Kishion’s head snap back, jolted It started on hi him with claws and teeth

She was frozen in terror for only a ht to the nearestand vaulted out of it, hearing the beast shift and lunge after her She landed in the tall grass at an odd angle and went down Its head protruded froainst her cheek It roared in fury and Phae quickly rolled through the grass, struggling to her feet, and sprinted toward the orchard She knew that bears were faster and that they could run up hills or down hills equally well Maneuvering through treesfro arrival was the luck she needed

The li, ducking and dodging around theht sky behind her She heard huffing and then a bark of pain A battle was raging inside the skull of a home Phae stumbled over a tree root and went down The impact bruised her ar that both of the beasts would kill each other